Pennsylvania Ag Connection - USDA to Conduct Annual Mushroom Survey

Pennsylvania Ag News Headlines

USDA to Conduct Annual Mushroom Survey
Pennsylvania Ag Connection - 06/11/2021

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will be conducting the annual Mushroom Inquiry to document the past growing year. In the Northeast, all mushroom growers in Maryland and Pennsylvania will be contacted about growing area, production, and value of sales for the 2020-21 season, as well as growing intentions for the coming year.

Growers should receive a questionnaire by early July. If you do not receive a questionnaire, please contact the Northeastern Regional Field Office at 800-498-1518. It is important that all mushroom growers participate in the Mushroom Inquiry so that accurate statistics on the mushroom industry are published. Mushroom statistics are used to help support the industry in many ways. To ensure all survey participants have an opportunity to respond, NASS interviewers will contact producers who do not respond by mail or online to conduct telephone interviews. NASS safeguards the privacy of all respondents and publishes only aggregate data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified.

During the 2019-20 growing season, Agaricus mushroom volume of sales totaled 816 million pounds, down 1.8% from the previous year. Pennsylvania accounted for 66% of the total volume of sales. The value of the Agaricus crop was estimated at $1.09 billion dollars, up 3.6% from the 2018-19 season. In Pennsylvania, the Agaricus crop was valued at $548 million where growers received, on average, $1.04 per pound for all Agaricus mushroom sales, an increase of 4 cents per pound from the previous year.

Value of sales for commercially grown specialty mushrooms in the U.S. during 2019-2020 totaled $67.4 million. A specialty grower is defined as having at least 200 natural wood logs in production or some commercial indoor growing area, and $200 or more in sales. The average price per pound received by growers, at $3.37, was down 7 cents from the previous season.

Survey results will be published in the annual Mushrooms report to be released on Aug. 31. For more information, call the NASS Northeastern Regional Field Office at 800-498-1518.

Other Pennsylvania Headlines